The Fuji Rabbit is a motor scooter produced in Japan by

Fuji Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate primarily involved in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation manufacturing. It is best known for its line of Subaru automobiles. Founded in 1953, the company was formerly named ( ...

(now

Subaru Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate primarily involved in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation manufacturing. It is best known for its line of Subaru automobiles. Founded in 1953, the company was formerly named ( ...

) from 1946 through 1968. The

Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

rates the Fuji Rabbit S-1 model introduced in 1946 as one of their ''240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology''.

Production

Fuji Rabbit Junior Parque Arauco 2009 (3)

Production of the initial model, the S-1, began in 1946, some six months before the

Vespa Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy to ...

went into production. It was largely inspired by scooters used by American servicemen during and after World War II, benefiting from engineering efforts from the scooter built by the Powell Manufacturing Company. As the first motor scooter manufactured in Japan, it was enormously successful and revolutionized the post-war vehicle industry. Eventually the Fuji Rabbit scooters evolved into some of the most technologically sophisticated scooters of their era, featuring electric starters, automatic transmissions and pneumatic suspension systems. The Fuji Rabbit scooters were the first Japanese made scooters capable of reaching speeds in excess of . The Rabbit's primary competitor was the

Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon The Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon is a series of scooters made in Japan by Mitsubishi between 1946 and 1963.

, which started production around the same time. Motor scooters were so important to the post-war vehicle industry that In May 1948 both a Silver Pigeon and a Rabbit were presented to the Emperor of Japan. Starting in 1954 the Rabbit also faced competition from the

Honda Juno The Honda Juno is a scooter. Two versions were produced, the K-series of 1954 (K, KA, KB), and the M-series of 1962 (M80, M85). Juno K The Juno K was a deliberately elaborate bike in 1954. It was Honda's first scooter and would be competing w ...

. As the Japanese economy expanded, the demand for scooters decreased in favor of more comfortable four wheel transport, called '' kei cars'', and Fuji followed suit and diversified into automobiles in 1958 with the introduction of the

Subaru 360 The Subaru 360 is a rear-engined, two-door city car manufactured and marketed from 1958 to 1971 by Subaru. As the company's first automobile, production reached 392,000 over its 12-year model run. Noted for its small overall size, 1,000 lb ...

. The last Fuji scooter rolled off the production line in June 1968.

In popular culture

Although not very well known outside Japan, the Fuji Rabbit has earned itself a place in Japanese pop culture as a symbol of nostalgia. Fuji Rabbits have been featured in Japanese animated series such as ''

Paranoia Agent is a Japanese anime television series created by director Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger (the English equivalent to ''Shōnen Bat' ...

'', and are a favourite amongst collectors of scooters and motorcycles in Japan.

North America

In North America, the Fuji Rabbit is best known for starting Malcolm Bricklin's motor vehicle career. (Bricklin was later responsible for importing the

and the

Yugo The Yugo (), also marketed as the Zastava Koral (, sr-Cyrl, Застава Корал) and Yugo Koral, is a subcompact car, subcompact hatchback formerly manufactured by Zastava Automobiles, at the time a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav corporation. ...

hatchback, as well as producing his own car, among other things.) The main importer for North America was the American Rabbit Corporation.

References

External links

{{Subaru Corporation Motor scooters Subaru Motorcycles of Japan Motorcycle manufacturers of Japan Motorcycles introduced in the 1940s